Posts [ 12 ]

Topic: FRANKENHOOKER on Blu-ray

This movie certainly has in interesting history on disc. I remember seeing the DVD in a video store many years ago. Checking the release date, I discovered that the film was released on DVD on Novenber 10, 1998! That's significant for 2 reasons: 1) By pure concidence, it's exactly 13 years ago today and 2) It's the very dawn of DVD.

That original 1998 release was supplanted by a much better disc produced by Unearthed Films in 2008.

Now Synapse is producing FRANKENHOOKER on Blu-ray.

I have to say that I was very surprised by the quality of the image which rivals many big studio movies on Blu-ray. Of course, this was Frank Henenlotter's "big" budget movie when compared to his other epic: Basket Case. This is a great looking disc showing almost no unusual manipulation in the form of excessive edge enhancement (a bit, not much) or noise reduction. Color and contrast are perfect.

Three soundtracks are provided. One is the commentary track. The other two tracks are DTS-HD Master Audio with the original stereo or a 5.1 remix.

I was impressed by the female lead Patty Mullen who not only did a great job but struck me as unusually good-looking. Turns out, she was a Penthouse Pet! But she really did a wonderful job with the character. I thought she was the best actress in the film and it was only when viewing the bonus material on the disc that I discovered she wasn't an actress at all.

A quick snyopsis for those not familiar with the plot. Jeffrey Franken's fiance is killed by a remote controlled lawn mower. Franken decides to rebuild his girl friend using parts from New York City hookers. For some reason, that just doesn't work out too well.

Re: FRANKENHOOKER on Blu-ray

Saw it in the theater when it first came out and loved it. The original first press of the VHS (which I wished I had kept) was a thick box with a voice track implant. When you touched the "PRESS HERE" prompt on the cover, you heard Patty Mullen say, "Wanna date? Wanna date?"

Re: FRANKENHOOKER on Blu-ray

Love this flick!I'm surprised there hasn't been a reproduction of the original interactive VHS packaging like Bunshinsaba mentioned - could kick myself in the ass for never grabbing a copy back in the day, although there are copies still floating around at reasonable prices.

Re: FRANKENHOOKER on Blu-ray

Re: FRANKENHOOKER on Blu-ray

^ I've been digging most of Arrow's original artwork for their various releases (chiefly using Rick Melton's illustrations) and Frankenhooker's no different.

and Dex, I believe you're about right at the VHS cost when it was first released. I got in tight with my video store and would get tapes at their cost, which was always around 20 bucks or so. That is until I discovered the wonderful dubbing capabilities of 2 VCRs. lol

and Japan always seems to produce nifty collector-conscious packages...maybe one day